Golf Plus.

It's The Open, And It Really Is

7,200 Can Dream At Beginning Of Local Qualifying

There are misnomers in sports, such as a World Series that doesn't include Japan, and the notion of a super Super Bowl.

But the United States Open truly is "Open." Any doubters never heard of the legend of Henry J. Brown, the cross-handed golfer with the address of a South Bend junkyard who almost made the Open.

Starting Monday, more than 7,200 golfers throughout the country will begin local qualifying for the U.S. Open, which is June 12-15 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. This is hardly about token spots to fill out the field.

The Open is the most equitable of tournaments. Under Open requirements (see chart), only 65 touring pros are exempt from qualifying. That means well-known players such as Peter Jacobsen, Lanny Wadkins and 1995 Motorola Western Open champion Billy Mayfair have to play their way into the field.

Craig Stadler is 11th on the PGA Tour's money list. But if he doesn't break into the top 10 by May 25, off to qualifying he goes.

Don't tell Steve Jones qualifying is meaningless. Jones wouldn't have won last year's U.S. Open if he hadn't survived a playoff in his sectional at Columbus, Ohio.

There are 90 spots available and more than 7,000 dreamers. They include tennis legend Ivan Lendl and baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bench. To give it a try, all you need is a 2.4 handicap and the $100 entry fee.

"The common man is not going to play in the World Series or the Super Bowl," said Larry Adamson, the U.S. Golf Association's director of championship administration. "But you can be 15 or 65 and still try to qualify for the U.S. Open. That's the lure and mystique of the Open."

Brown symbolizes what qualifying is all about. Adamson first heard from Brown in 1980, in the form of a letter on stationery from the Augusta, Ga., city jail.

Brown wanted to enter qualifying, but he had a problem: He was in jail for missed alimony payments. He wanted the USGA to make special arrangements for him to be released temporarily from jail so he could qualify. He even said he could be handcuffed between shots. The USGA has pull, but not that much pull.

The following year, Adamson received a call. It was Brown. Adamson tells it:

"He says, `Mr. Larry, I'm out. I told you I was innocent. I'm going to win the U.S. Open.' "

Trouble was, Brown sent in his application late and without his fee. Adamson called and told him he couldn't play. Brown was crushed.

Brown finally got his act together the next year and was entered to play. He had asked Adamson to send his application to a South Bend junkyard.

Adamson wasn't expecting much when the phone rang at his office. He was stunned to learn Brown had won his local qualifying with a 69-71. He then advanced to sectional qualifying, where he came within one stroke of reaching the Open.

It turns out Brown had a golf pedigree as a caddie at Augusta National. He was on the bag for Roberto de Vicenzo in the 1968 Masters for the golfer's infamous signing of the wrong scorecard.

"Henry could play," said attorney Robert Lee, who oversaw the South Bend qualifier. "He played cross-handed, and you had to see it to believe it. But he was long, and he had all the shots. He was a neat gentleman. He exemplified what the common man had to go through to play golf."

Joel Hirsch, a prosperous insurance executive, is the polar opposite of Brown financially, but he has the same dream.

Hirsch, 55, has been one of the best players in the Chicago area and one of the top amateurs in the country. About the only thing missing for him has been a shot at playing in the Open.

He has tried many times, advancing out of the local qualifying to the sectionals. But he never has been able to get over the hump. "It's certainly the most difficult tournament to qualify for," Hirsch said. "There's so much competition. It's major-league pressure. That's why you're doing it."

Locally, the first stage takes place May 19 at Spartan Meadows Golf Club in Elgin and Blackberry Oaks near Aurora. The golfers who survive then have to endure a 36-hole test in the sectionals to reach the Open. This area's sectional is June 3 at Bull Valley Golf Club in Woodstock.

Rick Ten Broeck, 48, wouldn't miss it. He has been trying for 28 years to make the Open. One of these years, he figures his number has to come up.

Ten Broeck came close once, missing a 10-footer during a sectional that would have put him in a playoff to vie for a spot in the 1990 Open at Medinah.

"Every year, you say, `I think I can do it,' " he said. "Just to say you made it would be a thrill. It would be a thrill to say that you played in the big time."

The touring pros aren't as romantic about qualifying, although they usually get a bye into the sectionals. Still, Adamson says they understand the rules of the game.

The biggest name of all, Arnold Palmer, went through it several times. Jack Nicklaus has a special USGA exemption this year, but it probably will be his last.